After thanking the Thirteenth Prince, Li Wei turned to leave, but was bumped into by the Fourth Prince. It turned out that the Fourth Prince remembered a few important words to say to the Thirteenth Prince, but he did not expect to run into Li Wei, who had been taken into his household the day before.
"What are you doing here? Didn't I already make things clear to you yesterday?" A hint of displeasure flashed in the Fourth Prince's eyes. He thought that Li Wei was unhappy with his invitation yesterday, but he couldn't refuse because of Li Wei's status. Now, Li Wei wanted to come and participate in the book discussion.
"Your Highness, Fourth Prince, I have come to ask the Thirteenth Prince to investigate something else for me," Li Wei said with a bow.
Fourth Master asked in confusion, "What is it?"
Thirteen, being quick to speak, immediately recounted the strange events that had happened to Li Wei's younger brother.
After listening to this, Fourth Master remained silent for a while before saying to Li Wei, "Your brother must be hiding something from you. After you entered this door, he left on his own without even leaving you a word. It's clear that he doesn't want you to know where he went!"
Li Wei had calmed down by now. He had calmed down the moment he learned that Li Chuang hadn't come in. Li Chuang wouldn't leave him like this without a reason; there must be something he was hiding. Since Li Chuang was deliberately concealing something, there was no way he could find out unless Li Chuang came back in person to explain.
"I'll take my leave now, sirs! I've disturbed your business!" Li Wei bowed and nodded to the Fourth and Thirteenth Masters before turning to leave.
"Your brother is missing, so what are your plans?" Fourth Master couldn't help but ask.
Li Wei felt a warmth in his heart, put aside his annoyance, and replied gently, "Your Highness, my younger brother and I have depended on each other since childhood. Now that he has left without saying goodbye, I will search the whole world to find him."
Fourth Prince had already guessed he would do this, so he stopped him, saying, "There are so many people in the world, where are you going to look? Otherwise, you can go with Thirteenth Prince's cavalry and follow me. I will send someone to help you find your brother. It's better than you searching aimlessly on your own."
Li Wei knew that what Fourth Master said was true. Once he stepped out of that door, he didn't really know where to go to find Li Chuang.
After much deliberation, Li Wei finally made his decision. He knelt before the Fourth Master and said, "This servant thanks Your Majesty for your kindness. From this day forward, this servant swears to follow Your Majesty to the death." Li Wei had previously possessed a certain scholarly arrogance, but at this moment he suddenly realized how utterly insignificant his own abilities were, while the Fourth Master standing before him could simply issue a proclamation throughout the land to find Li Chuang with a mere word. At this moment, his feelings for the Fourth Master's status had never been stronger. Having decided to pledge allegiance to the Fourth Master, he had no more reservations.
"Get up. I will have the Prefect of Jinan help you search. You should go back to your previous residence and wait for a few days. Maybe your brother will go back on his own. If he is still missing after a few days, then come to the Lu family mansion to look for me!" Fourth Master instructed.
Li Wei had no choice but to nod repeatedly, then, mimicking the Manchu custom, he bowed and turned to leave.
“This man is quite considerate of his brotherhood. He hasn’t forgotten his younger brother, with whom he grew up, just because he has been helped by a benefactor. You just heard him say that he would search the whole world to find his brother. In other words, if you hadn’t said those words, Fourth Brother, Li Wei probably wouldn’t have come to your residence,” said the Thirteenth Prince.
"Yes, if he were only interested in wealth and glory and didn't care about his brother's life or death, I wouldn't bother with him now." Fourth Master hates people who disregard brotherly affection and only care about their own interests.
But how could he know that, after all these years, he would be regarded by posterity as a cunning, cruel, narrow-minded tyrant who could not tolerate his own brothers!
When Li Wei hurried back to his friend's house, there was still no news of Li Chuang. He was no longer blindly anxious. Since Fourth Master had agreed to help him find his brother, he no longer needed to wander around like a headless fly.
One word: Wait!
Having not slept a wink all night, Li Wei finally relaxed and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep!
Two days passed, and Li Chuang vanished without a trace, like a needle dropped into the ocean. Although Li Wei had been mentally prepared, he still found it hard to accept. Li Chuang had been standing right in front of him just a few days ago; how could he have disappeared in the blink of an eye?
Li Wei carefully reviewed the circumstances of Li Chuang following him to Jinan, but found nothing unusual until he remembered a sentence he heard Lin Jin say when he entered the door: "Brother..."
Thinking of this, a sudden flash of insight struck Li Wei. He seemed to finally understand the meaning of Li Chuang's last words to him. Sure enough, he had planned to leave long ago. Only after accompanying him to the other side did Li Chuang finally find an opportunity to leave. So, his last words were: "Brother..." but he didn't say anything more, which was his farewell.
At that moment, Li Wei felt no sadness, only anger. He couldn't understand what Li Chuang was doing, why he had to leave him like this. Li Wei considered countless possibilities, but he couldn't explain why his brother would leave without saying goodbye. It wasn't until much later, when the brothers met again, that they learned what had happened.
After several days of selection, only ten people were able to stand before Emperor Kangxi. These ten people came from all over Shandong and Qi provinces. They had stood out from thousands of people and were all highly talented and learned.
Li Wei had already visited the Lu family mansion to see Fourth Master. Fourth Master ordered him to enter the Lu family mansion immediately, and then he changed his clothes and became his personal advisor.
On this day, Emperor Kangxi ordered the Fourth Prince, Eighth Prince, Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, Fourteenth Prince, and several trusted ministers to sit together in the Mingzheng Hall to meet with these ten carefully selected talents.
Although Li Wei's status disqualified him from entering, he could still stand outside and wait, just like Su Peisheng. Looking at the heavily guarded Mingzheng Hall, Li Wei knew that this time, it seemed Heaven had truly bestowed upon him a great responsibility. His years of diligent study had finally paid off.
Kangxi then sat up straight, looking at the ten young scholars who had been brought before him. His exceptionally sharp, worldly-wise eyes swept over each of them with piercing light, leaving no trace.
"You decide for yourselves who will speak first! I won't give you any questions; you'll create your own and then answer them yourselves. I'll just listen," Kangxi said.
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